Falling One After Another
The Five Ghosts Yin Wind Formation has an unknown name, but it is extremely powerful in actual combat.
Hongku was promoted to Venerable by the Five Ghost Yin Wind Sword Formation. The formation flags of Venerable Black Mountain have slightly different names, but their functions and methods of control are largely the same.
As one of the earliest formations Zhang Xuezhou encountered, and having experienced life and death with Hongku, he was extremely familiar with how to use this formation.
Anyone who manages to survive in a formation must either break through it with skill or review the situation to avoid falling into it again.
More than a decade has passed, but Zhang Xuezhou's memory remains vivid. He waved the battle flag in his hand continuously, gradually aligning it with the other four battle flags.
A howling, eerie wind surged, accompanied by the sounds of malevolent creatures and cursed insects gnawing at bones and sucking marrow.
Those who step into the formation and are unable to react in time will either be attacked and killed by the icy winds that pierce them, or be possessed and devoured by evil spirits.
This formation is somewhat underhanded and sneaky. Killing opponents is simple and brutal, and even if you don't kill them, it will still have a negative impact. When the main formation master coordinates the attack, it can achieve the goal of killing many with few and fighting the strong with the weak.
Where is Daojun?
The new emperor held his longsword, his face no longer showing the urgency he had before.
In a battle between great cultivators, a single mistake can be fatal; mastering countless sword techniques and Incantation Technique is like water flowing and flowers falling, unable to be used effectively.
The Venerable Black Mountain shouldn't have died so quickly; the opponent was merely a little careless.
This brief moment allowed Zhang Xuezhou to break the formation, and the new emperor to quickly kill his opponent. Even the Venerable Black Mountain didn't have to use any Incantation Technique, relying solely on his body to block the sword.
With the lessons of the past right before their eyes, the new emperor is unlikely to repeat the fate of the Venerable Black Mountain.
He watched as Zhang Xuezhou waved the battle flags continuously until he stabilized the flags, at which point the new emperor asked in a low voice.
"That kind of matter needs to be asked of Sima Tan and Luo Xia Hong!"
Zhang Xuezhou looked around and kept waving the battle flags.
After taking over the control of the formation from the Venerable Black Mountain, he waved the formation flags, and some of the horsemen chasing behind began to pass through this alley.
They seemed oblivious to Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor, and paid no attention to the dead Confucian scholars and imperial guards on the ground.
"Aren't we going to investigate?" the new emperor asked.
"We'll just trim some of their wings; let others investigate first!"
Looking into the distance, Zhang Xuezhou waved his battle flag, allowing another horseman to pass.
Charging to the front lines is not a good idea; the faster you charge, the faster you die.
Zhang Xuezhou was originally following behind the others. If the people in front hadn't disappeared into the darkness, he too would have been unaware that he had fallen into the formation.
Of course, the Five Ghosts Yin Wind Formation was powerless against him, but the fate of the new emperor was uncertain.
The new emperor's swordsmanship is extraordinary, but his physical fitness is average. Although he is not particularly fragile, his strength will inevitably decrease if he is attacked by Yin wind. If he is entangled by Yin creatures and cursed insects, and then attacked and killed by the Venerable Black Mountain, his mortality rate will be extremely high.
Zhang Xuezhou was also letting others take the lead, or to cause a lapse in the formation, thereby attracting other accomplices to come.
His response caused the new emperor to frown slightly. The new emperor's temperament was completely different from Zhang Xuezhou's, and their ways of handling things were also different, but he had no other choice at the moment.
He's a professional when it comes to killing, while Zhang Xuezhou is a professional when it comes to handling problems and creating opportunities.
The two people have different ways of thinking and different abilities, but if one of them stops, the other will inevitably follow suit.
Just like when the new emperor attacked and killed Daojun in Mayi, Zhang Xuezhou was initially stunned, but then quickly got into a cooperative state.
The new emperor was somewhat anxious at this moment, but he also entered a state of cooperation.
He found a dark corner, crouched down, and kept looking around.
Perhaps the array flags were destroyed, or perhaps Zhang Xuezhou's skill in controlling the array was limited, but the new emperor found it difficult to see anything in his surroundings. Even when someone rode past on horseback, he was somewhat unaware of it.
After letting five riders pass in succession, the new emperor saw Zhang Xuezhou holding the battle flag and waving it continuously.
"This Great Han prime minister is a real hornet's nest; just poke him and a whole swarm pops out. Our formations can't even stop these searching cultivators!"
A muttered grumbling voice drifted from afar, accompanied by whispers of agreement from others.
The new emperor's eyelids twitched, and his right hand quickly gripped the longsword.
"Black Mountain, Venerable Yinghua, Venerable Yellow Sand, and Venerable Hongying have come to lend you their support. If you encounter any troublesome situations, just call me. With the combined power of the Five Ghosts, anyone can be killed!"
The sound grew closer, and the sound of footsteps followed.
As Zhang Xuezhou flags fluttered, the new emperor saw a middle-aged man holding a feather fan step out from behind a wall.
"Venerable Black Mountain... um?"
The middle-aged man politely cupped his hands in greeting, then his eyelids twitched, and he fanned himself forward with his feather fan.
Dozens of bone-piercing nails shot out like a torrential rain, turning the body of the Venerable Black Mountain lying on the ground into a honeycomb in a short moment, while black energy, like venomous snakes, crawled in and out of his body.
The middle-aged man's expression was tense and solemn. Just as his expression relaxed slightly, he felt as if his heart was being torn apart.
As he slapped his right hand forward, swarming up countless black mosquitoes, his left hand swiftly gripped his heart.
His hands were covered in blood, and pieces of his heart spilled out, making his face look desperate.
A yang spirit avatar emerged from his body, but just as the middle-aged man's yang spirit avatar was about to take off, a yin wind swept over.
"Hey!"
With a soft shout, the body of this Yang Soul was cleaved in two, then transformed into wisps of purple qi that scattered in all directions.
"Oh no! It's not Venerable Black Mountain who's in charge of the formation right now!"
The slaying of Yang Po caused a massive dissipation of Law Power, which also impacted the Five Ghosts Yin Wind Formation.
A cry of surprise rang out, and an elderly man dressed in white appeared.
Unlike the middle-aged man who had just been killed, the other party did not immediately strike back. Instead, he pointed his long White Bone staff towards the east and then shot eastward.
This road is blocked!
A soft shout rang out, and the new emperor strode forward, sword in hand, slashing towards the back of the elderly man in white.
In front of him was Zhang Xuezhou, who swung his body and blocked his way.
The White Bone staff struck Zhang Xuezhou Zhang Xuezhou, crackling and popping incessantly, shattering his blue retainer's robes and causing gray and gold light to flicker around Zhang Xuezhou.
"Hey, White Bone demon!"
The new emperor did not recognize Venerable Yinghua, but he knew the Black and White Venerables of the Yedie River Holy Land, especially Venerable White Bone, who wore the distinctive White Bone robe, making him much easier to identify than Venerable Black Mountain.
The long sword, like a rainbow, fell towards the spine of the fleeing Venerable White Bone, severing his spine in one blow.
When the Venerable White Bone turned his head back, unwilling to be noticed, the new emperor couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Be careful, he's not that easy to kill!"
Upon hearing Zhang Xuezhou's quick reminder, the new emperor's heart tightened, and he swung his longsword downwards in his right hand.
A bone claw had silently appeared out of nowhere, clashing and striking against his longsword. The previously damaged sword was broken in two. Even with the Emperor's Qi and Blood and qi, and the Sword-Ray's constant flashes of light, he was unable to sever the bone hand. Moreover, the broken blade quickly softened in the bone hand, turning into a thin, blackish-gray film that covered the bone hand.
"His cultivation method is almost identical to Black Mountain's; his bones are as hard as metal and stone, and his claw strikes can melt gold and iron. They also possess corrosive phosphorus poison, making him even more capable of preserving his life!"
Zhang Xuezhou's body shimmered with the light of Incantation Avoidance Instruction and physical techniques, while his right hand firmly gripped the neck of the Venerable White Bone.
His words drew curses and shouts from the Venerable White Bone, who spat out mouthfuls of phosphorescent fire that continuously burned Zhang Xuezhou's body.
"I know a little bit of the Sand-Transforming Technique of the Venerable Yellow Sand!"
Upon hearing Zhang Xuezhou's low voice, fear immediately appeared on the Venerable White Bone's cursing face.
Bones can be reconnected after they break, and bodies can be pieced back together after they are chopped into pieces, but turning into ashes is beyond the scope of the Venerable White Bone's ability to save his life.
He felt the pain of ants gnawing at his skull, and then yellow and white grains of sand kept falling down. For the first time, he regretted that it was not a good thing to refine his White Bone body into a material of metal and stone.
His Curse body clearly falls within the scope of the Sand Transformation spell's casting criteria.